OIG Blog Entries from May 2013

Nowhere has the digital revolution been more disruptive than in communications. The rapid evolution in Internet-based technologies has changed the way businesses and individuals communicate and transact. They now rely on both digital and physical communications. This dramatic shift has certainly challenged the Postal Service, but also created opportunities for it to expand into digital services to meet customers’ needs.

What digital services might the Postal Service offer to serve customers and potentially generate new revenue? In the paper What America Wants from the Postal Service, our web survey of 5,000 Internet-connected Americans aged 18 years and older asked respondents to consider the Postal Service as a provider of digital services and to weigh in with their preferences of potential new digital services it could offer.

Interestingly, an overwhelming majority of respondents (especially younger respondents) are comfortable with the Postal Service as a provider of digital services. Only 12 percent of respondents indicated they would not trust the Postal Service to provide any digital services. More than 80 percent of respondents trust the Postal Service for providing package tracking, followed by e-government services (34 percent), and identity verification services (nearly 30 percent). More than 40 percent of respondents expressed interest in having a digital mailbox service, while more than 55 percent of respondents see value in the Postal Service providing a delivery preference management system.

Today’s topic in our week-long series on What America Wants from the Postal Service considers ways in which the Postal Service could generate revenue to sustain its operations. The Postal Service’s future financial health depends on its ability to generate revenue, as well as cut costs (yesterday’s blog topic). In the larger debate about reinventing the Postal Service’s business model, the topic of allowing the Postal Service to offer non-postal products and services frequently emerges.

Non-postal products and services might help the Postal Service continue to meet Americans’ needs in a world increasingly reliant on digital communications. Non-postal services could also contribute to the Postal Service’s bottom line through additional revenue, helping it cover the costs associated with providing universal service. Of course, the issue of non-postal services also concerns some people that feel that offering non-postal products creates unfair competition for the private sector.

Opportunities for the Postal Service include providing access to government services, such as licenses and permits, allowing for collection of social benefits, or providing options for bill pay at Post Office locations. These types of government services are not too dissimilar from services already available from the Postal Service, such as passport applications.

Results of our web-based survey of 5,000 Internet-connected Americans aged 18 years and older indicated that nearly half of respondents expressed interest in having more services available at the Post Office. Most of these respondents were particularly interested in accessing government services such as driver’s license renewal services, request for permits or licenses, or paying bills.

On Tuesday, we asked what Americans want from their Postal Service. In particular, should the Postal Service continue to serve all areas of the country even if it is not profitable to do so?

We continue our series based on our recently released white paper, What America Wants from the Postal Service, by focusing on cost cutting. We ask you to weigh in with your opinion on the best options for the Postal Service to trim costs while maintaining service.

Among the Postal Service’s main cost-reducing measures are realigning its extensive retail network and its delivery network while providing high levels of service to the American public. Its goal is to optimize the retail network to match customer demand with supply and to focus on reducing unnecessary overhead, while improving service and the customer experience.

Our web-based survey asked respondents to consider a handful of cost-cutting initiatives, including options that the Postal Service has never proposed, such as 3-day-week delivery. Results of our survey of 5,000 Internet-connected Americans aged 18 years and older found that more than 70% of respondents indicated a strong opposition to several of our proposed changes, including reducing the hours of operation for post offices, closing sorting facilities (resulting in a delivery delay), and moving to 3-day delivery.

How do you feel about the following possible options the Postal Service could take to reduce costs?

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Recent Blog Comments

Dear USPS,
I had an opportunity to try your automated postal service Kiosk for the first time.
I am an engineer / scientist and so these type of systems interest me.
I thought I would pass along my experience, in the event you...

Orange, Texas needs supervision!! They hire contract people for delivery of my mail but I never receive anything on time it shows for delivery. You contact Orange, Texas Post Office answer I always get is "we have 40 people delivering mail...